Sheldon Adelson pledges $10M to Koch effort

Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson this week pledged $10 million to the Koch brothers’ 2012 efforts, cementing a potent alliance of two of the biggest spending forces in conservative politics.

The pledge was delivered by Adelson aide Andy Abboud at the Koch brothers’ donor summit early this week in suburban San Diego and was among the biggest of the gathering, multiple sources told POLITICO. Other large pledges came from personal investment tycoon Charles Schwab, who committed to a seven-figure donation, and the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch.

Text Size

-

+

reset

The summit also featured the unveiling of a new candidate training academy supported by the Kochs called the Grassroots Institute.

The Grassroots Institute adds a new tool to a loose coalition of groups backed by the Kochs that increasingly resembles a political party of its own. It includes Americans for Prosperity, among the biggest spenders on tough ads attacking President Barack Obama, and Themis, a voter mobilization database that was reportedly deployed to great effect in the Wisconsin recall fight, as well as a host of other groups not commonly thought of as Koch-affiliated.

Together, the groups in the Koch network intend to spend nearly $400 million ahead of the 2012 election — marking the brothers not only as key players in a planned $1 billion GOP-allied outside campaign but also as among the most powerful forces in American politics.

Adelson’s family, meanwhile, is among the single biggest donors to political groups this cycle, and this month he committed to donating $10 million to a super PAC supporting Mitt Romney, Obama’s GOP challenger. Adelson’s dueling $10 million pledges to the Kochs and the pro-Romney super PAC underscore an unprecedented coalescing of conservative outside money to try to defeat Obama and congressional Democrats in the fall.

The CEO of the Las Vegas Sands, estimated to be worth nearly $25 billion, Adelson has long been a major Republican financier. But his donations have primarily benefited establishment Republican groups and candidates, or those supportive of his single biggest pet issue — the vigorous defense of Israel.

Adelson’s donation to the Koch network demonstrates how the brothers have branched out beyond the libertarian strain of conservatism that once completely defined them. The Kochs have increasingly directed cash to more traditional GOP-allied groups such as the 60 Plus Association and American Future Fund. They’ve sent representatives to regular meetings first organized by Karl Rove at which outside groups coordinate their campaign advertising. And they’ve invited more rich conservatives — and not just free market purists — to their twice-a-year donor summits.

Individuals gave more than 3.2 million directly to the Romney Campaign yesterday after the SCOTUS ruled ObamaCare's mandate is the largest tax in history. Why is Obama raising taxes on the lower and middle classes?

The pious Mormon taking money from foreign casino moguls, whether directly or indirectly. Oh well, if you're guaranteed to be a god in your next life, I guess it doesn't matter what you do in this life. Mountain Meadows Massacre is proof of that.

I think part of the Koch's strategy is to disseminate comments to right-wingers to be used on news websites. I often notice nearly identical comments being posted by people with different screen names and different IP addresses.

I bet you will see many comments that mimic those left by AngelEyez today.

I wish a couple of these billionairs would pool a billion dollars together and give it to the super packs. We need to get this man child stoog out of the white house before the United States is totally communism.

Social Security is a Tax and so are most Social Programs, Anyone who understands the tax code know that! So do the Republican want to Repeal all of those programs too??? You are all forgetting that the biggest champion of this health care law is Mitt Romney and it all on caught on video tape! FYI Mitt and the Republicans can't repeal anything they don't have the votes now and they will not have it in the future. Tell me what are they going to replace it with specifically or is Mitt going to continue to tell lies!!! Obama 2012 because going back to the 50s with the Republicans is not an Option!!!

THESE DIRTY MONEY PEDLERS SHOULD BE IN PRISON--there money will in the end get then nowhere as Americans begin to rebel against the prospect of one man on dollar as opposed to one man one vote. Remember the California elections in which Meg dumped more than $100 million to become governor. She lost her money and bet. MONEY CANNOT BUY MITT ROMNEY LOVE--AND HE KNOWS IT! If find it offensive for the Koch Brothers, Edelson and the like to think they can now buy America and us all with their very dirty money solely to get government and its leaders to do their dirty work for them. These men, above all, are governed sorely by self-interests, not idealism. Just me first, as opposed to Country First!

THESE DIRTY MONEY PEDLERS SHOULD BE IN PRISON--THEIR money will in the end get then nowhere as Americans begin to rebel against the prospect of one man on dollar as opposed to one man one vote. Remember the California elections in which Meg dumped more than $100 million to become governor. She lost her money and bet. MONEY CANNOT BUY MITT ROMNEY LOVE--AND HE KNOWS IT! If find it offensive for the Koch Brothers, Edelson and the like to think they can now buy America and us all with their very dirty money solely to get government and its leaders to do their dirty work for them. These men, above all, are governed sorely by self-interests, not idealism. Just me first, as opposed to Country First!